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fellow
Fredericksburg area farmers in a protest against recent protective tariffs, then attended several national anti-tariff conventions between 1821 and 1831. Some criticized Garnett's advocacy, and thought he should emulate the wealth orientation of Robert Payne Waring (who never served in the legislature). Nonetheless, Essex County grew to have considerable power (Richmond politics being supposedly governed by the "
366:, another vociferous agricultural advocate, and in 1842 established the Agricultural Society of Essex. Garnett often voiced admiration for Jeffersonian agricultural ideals, especially the "yeoman farmer" who owned fewer than 300 acres and only a few slaves. He also became known for his tirades against farmers becoming lawyers and doctors, for he claimed that weakened the pride farmers should take in their profession.
280:, who served in the Virginia House of Burgesses as well as operated plantations in Essex County using enslaved labor. His father, Muscoe Garnett (1736–1803), also served in the House of Burgesses and operated plantations using enslaved labor. His mother Grace Fenton Mercer (1751–1814) was the daughter of prominent
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Despite his dislike for political campaigning, Garnett became a leading advocate for applying scientific techniques to farming, and strove to educate fellow farmers. In 1817 he helped found the
Fredericksburg Agricultural Society, and served as its president for two decades. In 1820 Garnett led his
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to
Virginia, and she worked with his daughters at the Elmwood school, as well as established a school for educating Blacks at Loretto, before returning to Maryland to establish a girls' school at her family plantation in Anne Arundel County, and later moving her school to Loudoun County, Virginia.
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In 1816 Garnett hosted Henry Knight of
Massachusetts, who had been educated at Andover, Harvard and Brown and planned to spend a year in Virginia, then tour the South to complete his education. He had visited Richmond (where people recommended he visit Garnett's Essex County plantation), and would
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In 1793, he married his cousin (James Mercer's daughter) Mary
Eleanor Dick Mercer (1774-1837) and they had nine children, including James M. Garnett Jr. (1794-1824) and five daughters who reached adulthood: Ann Garnett (1797-1835), Mary Garnett Waring (1802-1822), Grace Fenton Garnett (1805-1826),
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Garnett died at his
Elmwood estate on April 23, 1843, and was interred in the family cemetery on the estate. He had survived his wife, only son the reach adulthood, and most of his daughters. After his death, his widowed former son-in-law Rev. John Peyton McGuire (1800-1869, who had remarried to
316:
Garnet inherited plantations in Essex County (including
Elmwood) and continued the family tradition of farming using enslaved labor, although as discussed below, he would become a leading advocate of scientific agriculture and education. He owned 115 enslaved people in Essex County in 1820, 109
300:(1789-1840) also became a Congressman, and his brother William Garnett (1786-1866) moved to North Carolina where he operated plantations as well as survived the American Civil War. Meanwhile, James Mercer Garnett received a private education suitable to his class.
428:. The convention's main issues were increased representation for western Virginia (which passed although attenuated), as well as a proposal for the gradual abolition of slavery (which did not pass, the convention occurring shortly after crushing of
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308:(1821-1864) would become a prominent lawyer, Virginia politician and Confederate congressman long after this man's death. Several other grandsons would serve the Confederacy, including Dr. J.G.M. McGuire,
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Essex County voters thwarted
Garnett's attempted return to politics in 1815, but returned Garnett as one of their representatives in the House of Delegates in 1824. He, John Roane,
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Constitutional Charts, or
Comparative Views of the Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary Departments in all the states in the Union, Including the United States
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Lectures on Female
Education: Comprising the First and Second Series of a Course Delivered to Mrs. Garnett's Pupils, at Elm-wood, Essex County, Virginia
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James Slaughter, Settlers, Southerners, Americans: The History of Essex County, Virginia (Essex County Board of Supervisors 1985) p. 145
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Slaughter at pp. 93-94, citing Henry Knight and Arthur Singleton (editor) Letters from the South and West (Boston 1824) pp. 57-82
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and later vice-president of the Virginia Colonization Society. His cousin (and also Congressman from Loudoun County to the west)
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Cynthia Miller Leonard, The Virginia General Assembly, 1619-1978 (Richmond: Virginia State Library 1978) pp 215, 219
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would become the American Colonization Society's president. In 1821, Garnett also invited his orphaned cousin
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in 1799 and re-elected him in 1800. However, he refused to campaign for votes, which he considered degrading.
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Judith Brockenbrough) established a school in Essex County and promoted his innovation of report cards.
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Garnett also established a school for boys on his Elmwood plantation, as well as in 1824 published
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Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia
240:(June 8, 1770 – April 23, 1843) was a nineteenth-century politician and slave owner from
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before the convention began, and on the floor advocated restricting suffrage to landowners.
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enslaved people there in 1830, and 63 enslaved people in the last census in his lifetime,
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from 1805 to 1809, and separate terms in the Virginia House of Delegates representing
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Mary Mercer Garnett McGuire (1808-1841) and Eliza Garnett (1815-1847). His grandson
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Essex County voters first elected Garnett as one of their representatives in the
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Unlike Ruffin, who vehemently defended slavery, Garnett became a member of the
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In 1804, voters in Virginia's 11th congressional district elected him as a
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on both sides of his family. He was named for his paternal grandfather,
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Members of the United States House of Representatives who owned slaves
432:). Garnett had foreseen the convention's importance and published
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for treason in 1807. Mercer did not seek reelection in 1808, and
362:, with himself as the first president. Garnett also worked with
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1840 U.S. Federal Census for Essex County, Virginia p. 27 of 58
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1830 U.S. Federal Census for Essex County, Virginia p. 31 of 78
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1820 U.S. Federal Census for Essex County, Virginia p. 1 of 11
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Tyler, Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography, Vol. 2, pp. 108-109
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Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
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62:November 29, 1824 – December 4, 1825
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165:December 2, 1799 – December 6, 1801
272:, Garnett could trace his descent from the
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227:Slave Owner, politician, educator, author
93:U.S. House of Representatives
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705:Virginia's 11th congressional district
654:Virginia's 11th congressional district
333:United States House of Representatives
246:United States House of Representatives
167:Serving with John Daingerfield
288:, and his cousin through her brother
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659:March 4, 1805 – March 3, 1809
903:People from Essex County, Virginia
64:Serving with Lawrence Muse
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933:19th-century Virginia politicians
913:18th-century American politicians
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478:"James M. Garnett (id: G000075)"
27:American politician (1770–1843)
893:19th-century American planters
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646:Member of the
631:U.S. House of Representatives
382:American Colonization Society
360:Virginia Board of Agriculture
306:Muscoe Russell Hunter Garnett
430:Nat Turner's slave rebellion
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46:Virginia House of Delegates
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462:Appleton's Cyclopedia
386:Charles Fenton Mercer
339:that indicted former
329:Democratic-Republican
284:planter and attorney
256:Early and family life
189:William Brockenbrough
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238:James Mercer Garnett
75:Austin Brockenbrough
34:James Mercer Garnett
18:James Mercer Garnett
507:Pippenger pp. 71-72
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217:(1843-04-23)
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184:Succeeded by
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153:Essex County
136:Succeeded by
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81:Succeeded by
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50:Essex County
878:1843 deaths
873:1770 births
640:Anthony New
356:Essex Junto
286:John Mercer
174:Preceded by
129:Anthony New
124:Preceded by
85:David Pitts
71:Preceded by
867:Categories
665:John Roane
449:References
348:John Roane
344:Aaron Burr
337:grand jury
224:Occupation
178:James Webb
141:John Roane
796:Snodgrass
781:W. Taylor
771:Robertson
766:Stevenson
751:R. Taylor
420:, Essex,
408:from the
260:Born at "
161:In office
118:1805–1809
114:In office
58:In office
843:Connolly
786:McDowell
422:Caroline
242:Virginia
107:district
99:Virginia
816:Carlile
811:Jenkins
806:Carlile
791:Letcher
756:Barbour
746:Barbour
731:Garnett
464:vol. p.
426:Hanover
331:to the
266:Loretto
264:" near
262:Elmwood
761:Patton
741:Dawson
721:Newton
716:Parker
651:from
312:Career
838:Davis
833:Byrne
821:Blair
801:Lewis
776:Botts
736:Roane
151:from
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104:11th
726:New
101:'s
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